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By:  Staples                                                      S.B. No. 1831


A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to required activities and limits on the amounts of state 
financial assistance for which regional planning commissions may be 
eligible.
	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:                        
	SECTION 1.  Section 391.012, Local Government Code, is 
amended to read as follows:
	Sec. 391.012.  STATE FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE.  (a)  To qualify 
for state financial assistance, a commission must:
		(1)  have funds available annually from sources other 
than federal or state governments equal to or greater than half of 
the state financial assistance for which the commission applies;
		(2)  comply with the regulations of the agency 
responsible for administering this chapter;
		(3)  offer membership in the commission to all counties 
and municipalities included in the state planning region [or 
subregion];
		(4)  include any combination of counties or 
municipalities having a combined population equal to or greater 
than 60 percent of the population of the state planning region [or 
subregion];
		(5)  include at least one full county;                                        
		(6)  encompass an area that is economically and 
geographically interrelated and forms a logical planning region; 
and
		(7)  be engaged in a regional [comprehensive 
development] planning process.
	(b)  Within funds available and in accordance with rules 
issued by the office of the governor, a commission may use state 
financial assistance to:
		(1)  promote intergovernmental cooperation by 
coordinating regional plans and programs with member governments, 
nonmember governments, state agencies which impact the region, and, 
where state agencies have regional office structures, state agency 
regional offices;
		(2)  function as a regional review agency under the 
Texas Review and Comment System pursuant to state and federal 
statutes and regulations;
		(3)  leverage commission dues, local funds, and state 
funds to obtain maximum federal funding assistance and private 
funding for the state and the region;
		(4)  provide assistance to local governments;                          
		(5)  assist state agencies and organizations in 
developing local and regional input for state plans; in planning 
for the successful implementation of state programs at the regional 
level as required in Section 391.009, Subsection (c; in preparing 
for and conducting state-sponsored hearings and public meetings; 
and in disseminating state-generated information and educational 
materials; and
		(6)  provide assistance to state agencies and 
organizations in developing, implementing, and assessing state 
programs and services within the region as needed [A comprehensive 
development planning process must assess the needs and resources of 
a region, formulate goals, objectives, policies and standards to 
guide the long-range physical, economic, and human resource 
development of a region, and prepare plans and programs that:
		[(1)  identify alternative courses of action and the 
special and functional relationships among the activities to be 
carried out;
		[(2)  specify the appropriate ordering in time of 
activities;
		[(3)  take into account other relevant factors 
affecting the achievement of the desired development of the region;
		[(4)  provide an overall framework and guide for the 
preparation of function and project development plans;
		[(5)  make recommendations for long-range programming 
and financing of capital projects and facilities that are of mutual 
concern to two or more participating governmental units; and
		[(6)  make other appropriate recommendations].               
	(c)  A commission that qualifies for state financial 
assistance is eligible annually for an [maximum] amount determined 
as follows [of]:
		(1)  [$10,000 base grant;                                    
		(2)  an additional] $1,000 for each dues-paying member 
county; [and]
		(2) [(3)]  an additional 10 cents per capita for the 
population of dues-paying member counties and municipalities; and
		(3)  the amount necessary to assure that the total 
amount available to the commission is no less than $50,000.
	(d)  If state appropriations are more than the amount 
necessary to fund the level of financial assistance generated by 
this formula, the governor shall increase the funding for which 
each commission is eligible in proportion to the amount it would 
have been eligible to receive in subsection (c) [The minimum amount 
of annual state financial assistance for which a commission may 
apply is $15,000].
	(e)  If state appropriations are less than the amount 
necessary to fund the level of financial assistance generated by 
the formula in subsection (c) above:
		(1)  No commission shall receive less than annual 
financial assistance of $50,000, as long as financial assistance 
available to all commissions remains at or above the level of 
assistance allocated in fiscal year 2003.
		(2)  If available annual financial assistance is less 
than the amount allocated in fiscal year 2003, then assistance to 
all commissions shall be reduced proportionally from the assistance 
they would have received at the fiscal year 2003 funding level.
	(f)  For the purposes of this section, the population of a 
county is the population outside all dues-paying member 
municipalities.
	SECTION 2.  This Act takes effect immediately if it receives 
a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as 
provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution.  If this 
Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this 
Act takes effect September 1, 2003.